Roll up protective convering for vehicle tops including the windows



Dec. 20, 1966 c. G. .JINES ROLL UP PROTECTIVE COVERING FOR VEHICLE TOPSINCLUDING THE WINDOWS 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Dec. 23, 1964 CHESTER G.J|NES INVENTOR.

BY 8% A Dec. 20, 1966 c. G. JINES 3,292,684

ROLL UP PROTECTIVE COVERING FOR VEHICLE TOPS. INCLUDING THE WINDOWS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 23, 1954 0 r 9 0 I G I 0 0 0 CHESTER G. JINESINVENTOR.

ATT'Y United States Patent C) 3 292,684 ROLL UP PROTECTIVE COVERING FORVEHICLE TOPS INCLUDING THE WINDOWS Chester G. Jines, P.O. Box 26, ForestGrove, Oreg. 91116 Filed Dec. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 420,671 2 Claims. (Cl.160-23) This invention relates to protective means for the tops ofvehicles whereby the windshield and side and rear windows thereof may betemporarily covered and protected against frost, rain, snow, salt air atseashore parking and other corrosive or deteriorating weathering agentsof atmospheric conditions; second, to provide apparatus of the characterdescribed whereby portions of the vehicle to be protected may be easilyand quickly covered by one person with little effort; third, to provideapparatus which may be carried either as a permanent fixture or anaccessory on the vehicle so that said covering means is instantlyavailable; fourth, to provide a covering which, when not in use, isstored compactly within a housing attached to the vehicle at any desiredlocation and which housing is of such dimensions that it does notdetract from the streamlined or other graceful and pleasing overallappearance of the modern automobile; fifth to provide a covering whichis conveniently adaptable to automotive or trailer campers for use as acanopy or awning over a doorway of a camper or outwardly from eitherside of the camper body as a protection against rays of sunlight, rainand the like. The same applies to its adaptability to an open boat forquickly covering and protecting the contents thereof, such as perishablefoodstuffs, clothing and other articles against water damage from suddenrain squalls and the like. In the two last named uses the coveringmaterial should be of a nontransparent or similar opaque material, andartistically colored if desired, instead of clear plastic above referredto; and finally, to provide apparatus for the purpose intended which isof simple, eflicient, durable and inexpensive construction, which may bequickly and conveniently mounted for the uses above pointed out withoutthe use of hand tools, screw fasteners or the like.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof and inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a passenger automobile showingprotective covering and apparatus made in accordance with my inventionoperatively attached to the vehicle body.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the protective covering extendedoutwardly from its housing.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional end elevational view on an enlarged scale takenapproximately along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a similar View taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a front elevational view on an enlarged scale of the housingfor the protective covering and its functionally related parts.

FIGURE 6A is a fragmentary sectional detail view of a rubber coveredpull rod at the free end of the covering for also closing anelongatedopening in the housing when the protective cover is fully retracted.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary detail view on a further enlarged scale of awind-up roller, and

FIGURE 8 is an end elevational view of FIGURE 7.

With continuing reference to the drawings wherein like referencecharacters designate like parts and particularly FIGURES 1 and 2 thereofwherein a conventional 3,292,684 Patented Dec. 20, 1966 ice passengerVehicle is illustrated, reference numeral 1 indicates the top, 2 thewindshield, 3 the rear window, and 4 and 5 the side windows of thevehicle body.

The protective covering made in accordance with my invention and alsoillustrated in FIGURE 3 comprises an elongated flexible sheet,preferably though not restrictively of clear plastic, synthetic rubberor resin material, fabric or impregnated fabric or any other suitablewaterproof or water-repellent material 6 and comprising a main centersection 7, side flaps or marginal portions 8 and 9 and provided at itsfree end with a stififening rod 10 to insure a lateral spread of thecentral section at all times.

The bottom edges of the side flaps 8 are provided with a beading 12which, as best illustrated in FIGURE 5, comprises a strip of live rubber13 extending throughout the length of the flaps and secured thereto byany suitable means.

The opposite end of the covering, as best illustrated in FIGURE 4, ispermanently secured in any suitable manner to a wind-up roller 16r-otatably mounted within a housing 17 which is provided with suctioncups 18 and thereby adapted for removable selective securement to thebody of a vehicle at any desired location, such for instance, as therear portion thereof adjacent the bottom of the rear window, as shown inFIGURES l and 2.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to suction cupsas the attaching means since they form no part of the present inventionand are merely exemplary of any means for attaching the housing to thevehicle either at the rearward portion as shown, or on the hood orforward cowling if desired.

The wind-up roller 16, as best illustrated in FIGURE 7, comprises anelongated hollow cylinder 20 closed at both of its ends by caps or endpieces 21 removably secured as at 22 to the flanged ends 23 of thecylinder. The caps 21 are each provided with a concentric centralopening 25 which render the cylinder rotatable about a round core 26 bymeans of the reduced ends 27, the terminal ends of which are of squaresection as at 28 for fixed nonrotatable engagement with squared openings29 in the end walls 30 of the housing 17. Thus it will be seen that theroller 16 is rotatable clockwise and counterclockwise about the fixedlymounted core 26. The roller 16 is operable in a manner similar to thatof the well-known window shade wherein an outward or downward pull on acurtain will energize a coil spring which, when the curtain is released,will rewind the curtain by the stored energy of the spring. In suchcurtain rollers, however,

only a single spring is used and is attached at one of its ends to theroller and at its opposite end to the springsupporting core and whereinthe wind-up tension of the spring is gradually accumulated from one endto the other and the release of the stored energy is reversed throughoutthe length of the spring. In contrast to this, I provide two cooperatingcoil springs 31-32 secured at their inner ends as at 33 to the core 26and at their opposite ends as at 34 to the caps 21 so that as the roller16 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIGURE 8, byan'outward pull on the covering 6 both springs will be fully wound aboutthe fixedly mounted core when the covering reaches its fully extendedposition shown in FIGURES 1 and 3. For holding the covering when soextended, I provide a book 38, or other suitable fastener, at the end ofa flexible cord or cable 40 secured to the center of the stiffening rod10. The book is adapted for attachment to any fixture or accessorywithin reach of the cord 40, such for instance as the grille 41 on thecowl of the car body, or to some rear end point of attachment if thespread of the cover-ing is reversed.

As best illustrated in FIGURES 3-5, a pair of brackets 42, which areidentical except for their right and left hand 3 disposition, aresecured as at 43 to the bottom wall 44 of the housing 17 and extendupwardly and rearwardly-as shown. Each bracket rotatably supports at itstop end What might be termed a folding roller 46, parallel with thewind-up roller 16, and therebelow a pair of cooperating matching groovedrollers 47-48 disposed diagonally relative to the inner ends of saidfolding rollers 46. Thus the beading 12 of the flaps is confined topassage between the grooved rollers 47-48 throughout the length of thecovering when being paid out from the housing or retracted thereinto.When the covering is released from its extended hooked position, asshown in FIGURE 3, the wind-up roller 16 will be put into operation bythe energized springs 31-32 as aforesaid and such rotation of the rollerwill, of course, retract the covering as it is wound about the roller inthe manner, as best illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4, wherein it will beseen that the inner end portion of the center section 7 will be drawnabout the rounded ends 50 of the rollers 46 while the side flaps 8 and 9are turned under and fed onto the wind-up roller 16 by their runningengagement of the beading 12 with the diagnolly disposed grooved rollers47-48, preparatory to complete folding and winding about the wind-uproller.

As best illustrated in FIGURE 6, the front of the housing is providedwith an elongated slot 55 curved downwardly and inwardly as at 56 atboth of its ends to serve as -a guide for the incoming central portion 7of the covering and the downwardly and inwardly turned side flaps 8 and9 through the downwardly and inwardly curved portions 56.

The pull rod 10, also serving as a limit-stop for the wind-up, is rubbercovered as at A, as shown in FIGURE 6A, to provide a seal for the slot55 in the housing 17 when the covering is fully retracted. Thisresilient covering also prevents damage or distortion to the wall of thehousing or the edges of the slot by cushion ing the impact of the pullrod in the event that the windup operation of the covering is notmanually controlled.

In the event that it should become desirable or necessary to render theinterior of the housing 17 accessible for cleaning or replacement ofparts, or the lubrication thereof, I hingedly attach the front wall ofthe housing to its supporting wall 44, preferably though notrestrictively, by a piano hinge 57 and provide its rearward bottom edgewith any suitable type of latch 58 cooperable with the detent or keeper59 secured to the corresponding edge of the bottom wall 44.

As indicated by broken lines in FIGURE 4, the housing may be swung openabout the hinge 57 with little or no resistance from the covering 6whether the opposite end thereof is hooked or free since such movementof the housing toward that end would slacken the covering between bothof its ends.

While I have shown a particular form of embodiment of my invention, I amaware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves toothers skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1. Protective covering apparatus for vehicle bodies having a windshield,rear and side windows,

an elongated hollow housing having front, rear and end walls and anelongated opening in one of said walls,

means removably securing said housing transversely to the vehicle bodyadjacent the rear window thereof,

a self-winding roller energized by rotation in o di tion,

means rotatably mounting the roller within said housing,

a pair of horizontally disposed rollers spaced apart in the direction ofthe length of said winding roller,

two pairs of cooperating diagonally disposed rollers within the housingspaced inwardly from the ends thereof and disposed diagonally relativeto the spaced apart ends of said pair of horizontally disposed rollers,an elongated sheet of flexible material having side marginal portionsextending downwardly through the 2. A shelter-forming protectivecovering for vehicles comprising in combination,

an elongated sheet of flexible material having side marginal portionsextendable downwardly to provide side flaps, means secured to the freeend of said covering removably securing the same to a point ofattachment on a vehicle body adjacent one transversely disposed windowthereof,

a hollow housing,

means mounting said housing to the top side of a vehiole bodytransversely of said covering and adjacent another transversely disposedwindow,

a hollow wind-up roller rotatably mounted within housing, A

means attaching the opposite end of the covering to said roller,

said

a stationary core disposed within said roller extending outwardly fromboth ends thereof and secured against rotation by said housing,

at least one coil spring coiled about said core with one of its endssecured to the core and its opposite end secured to the roller wherebyrotation of the roller.

in one direction will energize the spring to impart rotation to theroller in an opposite direction,

the bottom edges of said side flaps having a heading therealongsubstantially throughout the length thereof,

two pairs of cooperating grooved rollers within the housing and spacedinwardly from the ends thereof, and

the beading of said flaps confined to passage through said pairs ofgrooved rollers onto said wind-uprol-ler along with said sheet in aninwardly folded condition about said wind-up roller.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,719,055 7/1929Herzer -23 X 2,756,438 7/ 1956 Soberman 16023 X 2,773,547 12/1956 Voss160-23 X 3,017,927 1/ 1962 Demko 160-27 1 HARRISON R. MOSELEY, PrimaryExaminer, J, K, BELL, Assistant Examiner,

1. PROTECTIVE COVERING APPARATUS FOR VEHICLE BODIES HAVING A WINDSHIELD,REAR AND SIDE WINDOWS, AN ELONGATED HOLLOW HOUSING HAVING FRONT, REARAND END WALLS AND AN ELONGATED OPENING IN ONE OF SAID WALLS, MEANSREMOVABLY SECURING SAID HOUSING TRANSVERSELY TO THE VEHICLE BODYADJACENT THE REAR WINDOW THEREOF, A SELF-WINDING ROLLER ENERGIZED BYROTATION IN ONE DIRECTION, MEANS ROTATABLY MOUNTING THE ROLLER WITHINSAID HOUSING, A PAIR OF HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED ROLLERS SPACED APART INTHE DIRECTION OF THE LENGTH OF SAID WINDING ROLLER, TWO PAIRS OFCOOPERATING DIAGONALLY DISPOSED ROLLERS WITHIN THE HOUSING SPACEDINWARDLY FROM THE ENDS THEREOF AND DISPOSED DIAGONALLY RELATIVE TO THESPACED APART ENDS OF SAID PAIR OF HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED ROLLERS, ANELONGATED SHEET OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL HAVING SIDE MARGINAL PORTIONSEXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THROUGH THE LENGTH THEREOF AND SECURED AT ONE OFITS ENDS TO SAID SELF-WINDING ROLLER, A BEADING EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLYTHROUGHOUT THE LENGTH OF THE BOTTOM EDGE OF EACH OF SAID SIDE MARGINALPORTIONS, SAID SHEET MATERIAL GUIDED IN RETRACTION BY SAID HORIZONTALROLLERS ONTO SAID WINDING ROLLER WHEN IN ROTATION IN AN OPPOSITEDIRECTION, THE BEADING OF SAID MARGINAL PORTIONS OF THE SHEET MATERIALCONFINED TO PASSAGE THROUGH SAID PAIRS OF DIAGONALLY DISPOSEDCOOPERATING ROLLERS ONTO SAID WINDUP ROLLER ALONG WITH SAID SHEETMATERIAL IN AN INWARDLY FOLDED CONDITION ABOUT SAID WIND-UP ROLLER.